radioactivity testing services Following the natural disaster in Japan and the damage it caused to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, a lot of public attention has been focused on the potential radiation contamination to the environment, especially in food and drinking water. Consequently, many questions have been raised about radiation exposure and detection. We’ve compiled a list of answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. Which items are crucial in What radioactive elements can be hoW do radioactive isotopes enter radiation exposure? measured? the food chain? Radiation by cosmic and terrestrial Basically, all radioactive elements are There are basically two ways: when radiation comprises the vast majority measurable. However depending on the the particles of radioactive fallout of radiation exposure. However, there length of their half-lives, the elements contaminate the surfaces of food is currently more concern about the may take some time to disintegrate. exposed to radioactive particles in the artificial radionuclides released from For example the isotopes of iodine environment, for example Iodine-131 the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. 131 and 133 have a half-life of up to 8 can settle on crops that humans or At the site of the Chernobyl disaster in days, the half-life of cesium-137 is 30 animals consume. Alternatively, plants 1986, explosions destroyed the core of years and plutonium-239 has a half- and crops may metabolize contaminated a nuclear reactor while it was still active. life of 24,000 years. The half-life is the ground and soil water. There are Lighter volatile elements such as iodine time that it takes until the half of an significant differences with regard to the and cesium isotopes were released into element is decayed. During this period of bio-availability of radioactive elements the environment and carried by wind decay, radioactive radiation is released. depending on soil type. Elements such over considerable distances. Due to the The radioactive radiation itself may be as Cesium-137 may quickly penetrate core meltdown heavier and less volatile measured with an instrument such as a deeper layers in sandy soils making elements such as strontium, uranium Geiger counter or gamma spectrometer. it more available to plants and crops and plutonium were emitted as aerosols Iodine-131 and Cesium-137 are the main which may be consumed by humans or dust particles and deposited closer to fission by-products that were released at and animals. However in the case of the plant. In comparison, at Fukashima Fukushima. mineral soils, Cesium-137 binds to clay the magnitude nine earthquake and particles reducing bio-availability to plants tsunami damaged the plant’s cooling and crops. Iodine isotopes may also system and lead to exposure of the fuel concentrate in marine and freshwater rods with iodine and cesium emitted seafood, which people then consume. into the environment. However, the highly radioactive cores of the affected nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant remained largely intact by containment vessels. WWW.foodsafety.sgs.com legal rules applicable Every country has regulations in place for radionuclide limits in food. An SGS representative will inform you about the respective limits for your food products in the destined country of sale. Japan: ministry of health, labor and Welfare notice no. 0317 article 3 NUCLIDE INDEX VALUES RELATING TO INGESTION LIMITS IN GUIDELINES FOR COPING WITH DISTASTERS AT NUCLEAR FACILITIES ETC. (Bq/Kg) Radioactive Iodine (Representative Drinking Water 300 radio-nuclides among mixed radio- Milk, dairy products nuclides: I131) Vegetables (Except root vegetables and tubers) Radioactive cesium Drinking Water 200 Milk, dairy products Vegetables 500 Grain Meat, eggs, fish etc. usa: derived intervention levels (dils) for each radionuclide group for food in domestic commerce and food offered for import. RADIONUCLIDE GROUP DIL (Bq/Kg) Iodine-131 170 Cesium-134 + Cesium-137 1200 eu: the accumulated maximum radioactive level in food according to council regulation 351/2011. RADIONUCLIDE GROUP FOOD THE ACCUMULATED MAXIMUM RADIOACTIVE LEVEL (Bq/Kg) Cesium-134 + Cesium-137 Milk 200 Milk products 200 Foodstuffs intended for special feeding of infants 200 during the first four to six months of life Other food products 500 Iodine-131 Milk 300 Milk products 300 Foodstuffs intended for special feeding of infants 100 during the first four to six months of life Other food products 2000 WWW.foodsafety.sgs.com the sgs group offer SGS’s state-of-the-art radionuclide testing laboratories are ISO 17025 accredited and can help you detect and measure radioactive contamination in your food products. sgs france capability ANALYSES TO CERTIFY NO RADIOACTIVE LD=LQ (Bq/Kg) CONTAMINATION Gamma Spectrometry (determination of all gamma-ray 2-3 Bq/Kg radio nuclides, especially Cs134, Cs137, I131, Co60) Activity alpha global 7-8 Bq/Kg Activity beta global 25-30 Bq/Kg sgs germany capability ANALYSES TO CERTIFY NO RADIOACTIVE LD=LQ (Bq/Kg) CONTAMINATION Gamma Spectrometry (determination of all gamma-ray 3 – 50 Bq/kg radio nuclides, especially Cs134, Cs137, I131, Co60) sgs russia capability ANALYSES TO CERTIFY NO RADIOACTIVE LD=LQ (Bq/Kg) CONTAMINATION Gamma Spectrometry (determination of all gamma-ray 5 Bq/Kg radio nuclides, especially Cs134, Cs137, Ra226, K40) Activity alpha global 0.18 Bq/g – 50,000 Bq/g Activity beta global 50 Bq/Kg sgs Japan capability ANALYSES TO CERTIFY NO RADIOACTIVE LD=LQ (Bq/Kg) CONTAMINATION Gamma Spectrometry (determination of all gamma-ray 20 Bq/Kg radio nuclides, especially Cs134, Cs137, I131) SGS can also provide radiation testing services in many other locations through our large network of laboratories. Please contact us for more information. Who is the sgs group? SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. Recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity, we employ over 64,000 people and operate a network of more than 1,250 offices and laboratories around the world. Contact us at: [email protected] WWW.foodsafety.sgs.com WWW.sgs.com © 2011 SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA.